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...but surely we can forgive a 13 year old girl for making these assumptions hehe

(9 times out of 10, when somebody is forced to use a number in their online alias, they will pick the year they were born... seriously not kidding lol)

Also a "Buddha" is an awakened individual, not a little statue. There's plenty of us around, but it is pretty funny, when i was very young, I too assumed a Buddha was a little statue people had for good-luck, and jesus was a mythical character like the easter bunny. Man, they sure are bad at teaching children important things in the united states haha.

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federicaseeker of the clear blue skyIts better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator

Sorry in advance , I am truly sadden that Buddha the pure good energy founded by Siddharta is associated with so many so call " Master" in their so call teaching , associated with martial art or Kungfu , associated with wealth or praying or chantting , associated with donation , associated with the lifestyle of monk etc .Buddha is pure energy , the final destination of all living and non living . Is free of any bad or ill feeling.I belief we cannot expect anything so call luck in Buddha or expect Buddha to change ourlife .... infact we will evolve towards it.Thks for sharingEe

Sorry in advance , I am truly sadden that Buddha the pure good energy founded by Siddharta is associated with so many so call " Master" in their so call teaching , associated with martial art or Kungfu , associated with wealth or praying or chantting , associated with donation , associated with the lifestyle of monk etc .Buddha is pure energy , the final destination of all living and non living . Is free of any bad or ill feeling.I belief we cannot expect anything so call luck in Buddha or expect Buddha to change ourlife .... infact we will evolve towards it.Thks for sharingEe

CSEe... I have seen quite a few of your posts lately referring to Buddha as pure energy and I wonder if you would find Taoism more to your understanding... The energy you speak of in Taoism is called Chi energy (or Qi)... Otherwise, not having read anything on Buddhism and coming to your own unique understandings as you have perhaps you should simply state you have your own unique beliefs... But you make a lot of claims of what Buddhism is (or should be) without having learned much of what it actually is and has been for a few thousand years...

I'd suggest reading a bit first, on Buddhism and Taoism, and then go from there...

Hi johnsthan , to me religion got nothing to do with Buddha . Taoism to me a belief of superpower but Buddha is energy that we all evolved .I belief and wanted to belief in Buddha all of us hv to discuss sincerely trying to learn from each other ..... teaching in Buddha does not axist but in Buddha is all abt sharing and sincerely learn to accept views to get to know more on our own Buddha . Sorry in advance , I never like to post any of my writing abt Buddha for others to read or read others writing on Buddha ... to me the better way and more sincere way is discussion . I post my views because many Master of Buddishim teaching never want to discuss with me , they more keen to teach .I hope we could continue sharing by discussion pls dont ask me to read I find I hard . For me learning Buddha is easy and fun ... if difficult then It must be wrong. Reading Buddha books ....is too hard for me .

I am curious CSEe... If you haven't read about Buddhism and discredit "Buddhist Masters" where do you get your notions of what Buddhism is... You may easily have chosen any religion/belief system and decided to re-explain it however you see fit...

I would assume Buddhist Masters might be turned off to talking to you because you are coming to them with your cup already full of your own notions and perceptions of what Buddhism is. (See Zen Koan below)

Why do you choose to label your beliefs as Buddhist (This is what it appears you are doing although you haven't outright stated it) when a lot of what your saying has nothing to do with Buddhism...

In no way do I mean to be disrespectful but you come off a bit too opinionated about something you don't really seem to know much about...

So my question is as above... Where do you get your notions of what Buddhism is?

Koan: A Cup of Tea

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.

The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!"

"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"

Is this a western practice or is it common across the Buddhist world? I can't see any benefit to rubbing the Buddha's belly as I can't see Buddhism believing in the notion of Luck. Everything happens because something happened before it... Cause and Effect... To think that one can have good or bad luck seems silly to me... Especially that this notion of luck could be effected by an act like rubbing a statue...

Hi Johnathan sincerely thanks for this disccussion . Since at very early age , I hv a strong feeling abt Buddha and the Buddha that I see does not and should not associated with monk I wanted to belief the are no master in Buddha so anyone call them self a Master of Buddishm is a bit too much for me to accept . We are all the same , so lets share . We cannot teach other abt Buddha but we must hv the awareness to learn from each other , I am sincere would like to learn here so pls..pls dont get me wrong I am not here to state my belief but I really wanted to share .. I came from culture / family and freind that only care for money no one here like to talk abt death , abt dying or Buddha but only me care for my death , I really hope I could hv the confident to face my coffin , In Buddha helps me alot but still not enought to free my fear .I really hope to find freind here to discuss on Buddish . death and dying ok .I NEVER FILL MY HEAD WITH ANY EGO but sincerely want to learn / know more abt my self and my Buddha but till now yes a few so call Master hd feedback but their answer very discouraging , they just follow Buddha books.........some of them maybe too ego even to let me voice my view.....

Hi Johnathan , yes you are right abt rubbing Buddha , thats my point there are many so call practise that should not associated with Buddha like the lifelihood of a monk , sholin kungfu or martial art , praying to Siddharta statues , chantting/praying , offering food to Siddharta statues etc ..... is that Buddha??? for me is NOT RELATED .

Well, what they all do is help keep the mind on the Buddhist path... In our busy lives it is easy to get side tracked and loose focus... routines and rituals are a means to regularly nudge us back onto the path and realign our focus... They may not accomplish anything else but if it helps keep us on the path it is a good thing.

I don't much care for the rubbing of a Buddha for luck, as to me it only enforces ones grasping to desired outcomes (I doubt anyone rubs a Buddha for bad luck).

Can you state why you believe the other things you mentioned have no place in Buddhism?

Buddha is pure energy of perfaction without any pollutant , is the energy that all living & non living evolved towards this energy . Monk is a group of people even before Siddharta time maybe is Siddharta's local culture searching for spritual desire and eventually mistaken simply because Siddharta was a monk showing us Buddha . Sorry in advance is the local culture is actually polluted Buddha and jeoperdize Buddha image . Sholin monk practsing martial art from angle they see Buddha but mistakenly associated with Buddha now . Monk culture of asking for food , is mistaken associated with Buddha . Sorry in advance , Buddha is not a place to enjoy or benifited from "teaching" Buddha ,or making money from buddha .

Is this a western practice or is it common across the Buddhist world? I can't see any benefit to rubbing the Buddha's belly as I can't see Buddhism believing in the notion of Luck. Everything happens because something happened before it... Cause and Effect... To think that one can have good or bad luck seems silly to me... Especially that this notion of luck could be effected by an act like rubbing a statue...

Hi Johnathon.The rubbing the belly of Hotei(sometimes called laughing buddha)probably originated in China and as fast as the chinese people spread across the world so did this practice.Is this Buddhism?Not really.Is it harmfull?Probably not.Lord Buddha certainly did not advocate this sort of thing,however,some people,depending on their understanding do take part in all sorts of rights and rituals.As someone above pointed out,if doing these things keep Buddha and his teachings at the fore front of your mind then it can't be all bad.It may not lead to enlightenment but then it is also not a one way ticket to the hell realms.With metta,Phra Greg

Buddha is pure energy of perfaction without any pollutant , is the energy that all living & non living evolved towards this energy . Monk is a group of people even before Siddharta time maybe is Siddharta's local culture searching for spritual desire and eventually mistaken simply because Siddharta was a monk showing us Buddha . Sorry in advance is the local culture is actually polluted Buddha and jeoperdize Buddha image . Sholin monk practsing martial art from angle they see Buddha but mistakenly associated with Buddha now . Monk culture of asking for food , is mistaken associated with Buddha . Sorry in advance , Buddha is not a place to enjoy or benifited from "teaching" Buddha ,or making money from buddha .

I disagree with much you have to say.Sorry but you have shown very little understanding of Buddhism and the teachings of Lord Buddha.Having just returned from my alms rounds,which I do every morning,it is indeed in keeping with the teachings of Lord Buddha.Another point is that we do not ask for food,we walk with our alms bowls under our robes,with our eyes down.People wishing to offer food to us then call to us to come and receive their offering.I hope that you may find a good teacher who can help you with your understanding.With metta,Phra Greg

Dear Phra Grey , I am truly & sincerely sorry if my writing is rude or offended you in any way , seems you are a monk and yes I admit my understanding of Buddha is very little as I am of the opinion that we are all learning from each other but I wanted to belief in Buddha there should be no Master or no one can call themself Master or teacher including Siddharta . We can actually learn from anything / anyone or any animal or even smalliest virus , each of them and us hv Buddha energy that can be learned but no one can actually claim as teacher . When we moved to higher awareness , we can see thing from another angle and learned .The process of learning is actually a purification process towards Buddha .I respect monk for their contribution spreading Buddhism for thousand of years but we all should reach / learned to higher awareness and admit / aware the true perception of Buddha . I really dont see the connection between monk , local practise of food offering to monk or Siddharta statues , chantting/praying , martial art connected with something so pure , so high level , so huge , so powerfull as Buddha .Sorry in advance , many so call Master of Buddishm teaching is too ego to even consider thinking or sharing other person views . I recall even one of the Abbot after few discussion with me telling me and I quote " Just follow and be a good student " and when I ask him how can you so sure who is your Master - he left . I wanted to belief Siddharta did teach us this and i quote " Believe nothing , no matter where you hv read it or who said it , or even I had said it unless it agree with your own common sense & reason " I hope we could disccuss further .

Dear Phra Grey , I am truly & sincerely sorry if my writing is rude or offended you in any way , seems you are a monk and yes I admit my understanding of Buddha is very little as I am of the opinion that we are all learning from each other but I wanted to belief in Buddha there should be no Master or no one can call themself Master or teacher including Siddharta . We can actually learn from anything / anyone or any animal or even smalliest virus , each of them and us hv Buddha energy that can be learned but no one can actually claim as teacher . When we moved to higher awareness , we can see thing from another angle and learned .The process of learning is actually a purification process towards Buddha .I respect monk for their contribution spreading Buddhism for thousand of years but we all should reach / learned to higher awareness and admit / aware the true perception of Buddha . I really dont see the connection between monk , local practise of food offering to monk or Siddharta statues , chantting/praying , martial art connected with something so pure , so high level , so huge , so powerfull as Buddha .Sorry in advance , many so call Master of Buddishm teaching is too ego to even consider thinking or sharing other person views . I recall even one of the Abbot after few discussion with me telling me and I quote " Just follow and be a good student " and when I ask him how can you so sure who is your Master - he left . I wanted to belief Siddharta did teach us this and i quote " Believe nothing , no matter where you hv read it or who said it , or even I had said it unless it agree with your own common sense & reason " I hope we could disccuss further .Hi,I do not find what you write rude and nor am I offended by it.I also believe that english is possibly not your first language and of course this can create some confusion.You have many questions and I will not be able to answer these all at once,so we will go slowly but surely.As I said in my earlier post,I go on alms rounds each morning.This is something that Lord Buddha and his disciples did and we continue this in the Theravada tradition.Not all traditions still have this due to various circumstances.I believe that the Vajrayana(Tibetan)tradition stopped this practice when HHDL fled to India.As all of the Tibetan people in India were reliant upon the generosity of the local community for their basic needs it was felt that the monks doing alms rounds would be too much of a burden upon the devotees at this time and so this tradition stopped.(I am not 100% sure if this is the actual reason,and would be happy for a Vajrayana practitioner to clear up any mis understanding).I believe in Japan the Zen tradition still goes on alms rounds.Unfortunately ego can be a problem even within the monastic community(we are not all enlightened yet)and yes you should question things that you are unsure of.The problem is that some things are not so easy to explain at times,language can sometimes fall down when we need it the most.Not all experiences can be put into adequate words.I will leave it there for now as I must go and do my own practice.I wish you all the best,With metta,Phra Greg

Hi Phra , thks for sharing . I wanted to belief in Buddha ...culture , race , religion does not axist . We are all same .... energy that in purification process towards Buddha . I stay away from knowing many terms / practise of certain buddha sociaty as I found it not relevent . To me on higher level of awareness , practise of monk , culture is not associated with Buddha . I also hv to go and will be back after 6 hours .

Hi Johnathon.The rubbing the belly of Hotei(sometimes called laughing buddha)probably originated in China and as fast as the chinese people spread across the world so did this practice.Is this Buddhism?Not really.Is it harmfull?Probably not.Lord Buddha certainly did not advocate this sort of thing,however,some people,depending on their understanding do take part in all sorts of rights and rituals.As someone above pointed out,if doing these things keep Buddha and his teachings at the fore front of your mind then it can't be all bad.It may not lead to enlightenment but then it is also not a one way ticket to the hell realms.With metta,Phra Greg